Yall do realize both pS4 and xbox one will be always on right? you realize they will go into a sleep state as opposed to being "off" similar to cable boxes, roku boxes etc???? You can turn them off, but they arent meant to be, the being on will allow for games,system updates to happen naturally instead of logging in and waiting, it will power on download update then power off.

Unfortunately, the way Steam family sharing works, it requires an always online connection.

I don't see how that is possible without connection.

For instance this is said in the article:

"- Borrowed games are only available on devices that have been authorized by the lender. Borrowed games will be unavailable on even an authorized [device] when the lender’s library is currently in use."

How would Steam (or Valve) know if the lender is using the library if they aren't online?

There is most definitely more to this than what scratches the surface!

GMLS, I think when people mention "always on", they mean that you need a connection otherwise you console wont play games at all.

With the current X1 and PS4 you do not need a connection to play games but like you rightly said a connection will give you a lot of benefits.

I think the 24h check in just pissed people off because MS are telling you that you need a connection which is seen by many as wrong. Most people will always be connected anyway but people don't like to be told that they have to.

There is no double standard going on. You have to realise the reason why people where angry was that MS limited the freedom and control of who and how we trade/sell/gift with physical media today. Steam is a digital only platform that's why it's fine. If MS did the same as Value and implemented their plans with digital content in mind then it would have been fine. It would be the complete opposite of what is happening now because they would have been offering great incentives to slowly move people into the digital age.

"There was no time limit [in family sharing], it was as we described. Team still investing in more digital features over time." I'm not a told you so kind of guy, but... well. :)"

Share access to your games with everyone inside your home: Your friends and family, your guests and acquaintances get unlimited access to all of your games.

And there’s more:

Give your family access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere: Xbox One will enable new forms of access for families. Up to ten members of your family can log in and play from your shared games library on any Xbox One. Just like today, a family member can play your copy of Forza Motorsport at a friend’s house. Only now, they will see not just Forza, but all of your shared games. You can always play your games, and any one of your family members can be playing from your shared library at a given time.

So let’s recap, using Microsoft’s own language: Your family gets unlimited access to your entire games library anytime, anywhere.

That was what Family Share was and as Aaron Greenberg said on Twitter - It was never "Just Demo's.

People beleived it was demos due to some noob on Pastebin posting the following:

"When your family member accesses any of your games, they're placed into a special demo mode. This demo mode in most cases would be the full game with a 15-45 minute timer and in some cases an hour."

They're basically the same apart from the fact that MS was going to implement DRM on the XBO. On Steam, their is an offline mode, so even when Steam goes down (won't be anytime soon), you can still play your games. Coming from someone who plays more on consoles.

Steam- You can only use the digital library on devices that the owner authorizes...further more you can't use the library AT ALL if they are currently using it.

Microsoft- Access any time to each other's library from any device...you just couldn't play the SAME game at the same time.

Steam does have its own DRM- you can't use it if the owner is currently using it AND the owner can limit the devices it's used on. Library can only be accessed by ONE user at a time.

How is that NOT DRM?

EDIT- I thought this would be obvious, but you can't access another library without the internet. Thus, it would need it just like the X1 did.

@AceBlazer13 Steam from the article-- As the lender, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when a friend is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

-- Borrowed games are only available on devices that have been authorized by the lender. Borrowed games will be unavailable on even an authorized [device] when the lender’s library is currently in use.

If you want to link me to where they say you can continue playing then by all means do so. By both of those bullet points..you're completely wrong.

So again..there was a reason for the check in...Steam doesn't need it because it requires the internet to funtion (same as X1) but they also don't allow one library to be used by more than ONE person at a time. DRM...

Can't access the library? What bs are you spewing? If your playing a game and the owner decides to play the same game you get the option to either purchase the game to continue playing or quit.Only difference is steam is pulling it off without 24 hour check ins.

You can already SHARE your account with authorized devices and you can do it on multiple devices so long as the others are in offline mode. This new share plan makes it so that it's closer to the XBL Gold family membership so that multiple people can make use of a single account from multiple devices.

Great way to showcase that you have NO idea what you're talking about.

You can also play the same game from a single account on multiple computers so long as they're offline mode. You know how I know? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I DO LAN PARTIES!

Of course Steam has it's form of DRM but it's not intrusive and no where near as terrible as the Xbox One's.

You can already SHARE your account with authorized devices and you can do it on multiple devices so long as the others are in offline mode. This new share plan makes it so that it's closer to the XBL Gold family membership so that multiple people can make use of a single account from multiple devices.

Great way to showcase that you have NO idea what you're talking about.

You can also play the same game from a single account on multiple computers so long as they're offline mode. You know how I know? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I DO LAN PARTIES!

Of course Steam has it's form of DRM but it's not intrusive and no where near as terrible as the Xbox One's."

First of all...fanboy has completely lost its meaning. Tossed around for the simple fact you prefer something DIFFERENT than the person that throws that crappy term around still.

Secondly...LAN parties are LOCAL. Doesn't apply to this conversation AT ALL.

Thirdly...this is for the sharing of accounts(GAMES) on OTHER DEVICES!!!!!!

You keep mentioning offline. YOU DIDN'T NEED TO BE OFFLINE TO DO THE GAME SHARING. Everyone could be online and game on the library at the same time.

There wasn't a LAN party...there wasn't someone needing to be offline...there wasn't the need to log into SOMEONE ELSE'S ACCOUNT!!!

Steam is allowing you to LEND a game without that person having to log into your account on other devices. That means you being logged into your own account and playing a game YOU DIDN'T PURCHASE.

The rest of my reply remains...in order to take advantage of this you have to be online and you can't play the game on devices the LENDER DOESN'T AUTHORIZE nor when they are choose to play a game on their account.

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE!!!

Microsoft-ANYTIME, ANYWHERE Steam- LENDER DECIDES WHERE, AND CAN'T PLAY WHILE THEY ARE PLAYING!!!!

You can login ANYWHERE from ANY DEVICE with Steam already and allow for account sharing. The only thing they added was now multiple people can share games across a single account from multiple devices. IT IS like the Microsoft Share Plan, which was already like Steam's current setup, the only difference was that you couldn't have sub-profiles under a single account and now you can.

Even now you can still setup where someone can access your games from a different computer if you give them access. This lets me know you have no clue what you're talking about because you've never used Steam.

And there is no difference between LAN/offline mode and using a different computer halfway around the world. NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL. Because the fact of the matter is that Steam doesn't have a LAN mode, you just log in to different computers with the same account after you put in the access code and play the games.

Essentially now, you could do LAN mode but have separate accounts for each computer, even if you're doing a LAN party where some of the people playing aren't even in the local area.

Of course simultaneous usage isn't allowed in Online mode (but it's not allowed in online mode even before the sharing), which is why I mentioned that it's the same as Microsoft's share plan insofar that if you all want to play the same game from different computers at different times you just go into offline mode after you get the game. Because, surprise, surprise, you can already do that with Steam.

EDIT: I should also add, since a lot of people are still confused about this: Just because your profile is set in offline mode in Steam doesn't mean you can't play the game online. Steam's offline mode only affects an account appearing online but has no effect on whether or not you can play some games online. This is how you can use a single account (in offline mode) to play multiple versions of the same game online.

Confirmed xbox one dev on reddit. I also remember it was mentioned in some interview I watched on YT. but here you got link to other one.

"Was the family sharing how everyone imagined it to be like (sharing games with 10 people only 2 game play one at the same time) or was it glorified demos ?

[–]XboxOneDevConfirmed XB1 Dev[S] 65 points 2 months ago It was for full games. Can't comment too much on this but its purpose was to eliminate the need to ever have to physically hand someone a game that you bought to share with them."

Bs it was never confirmed it was full games and after the fact anyone could say anything.

Given Microsoft history and lies it would bode well if you took what they say with a grain of salt. Remember this was the same Microsoft saying their is no power disparity between ps4 and Xbone, the cloud can make graphics better, kinect is better than the controller and my favorite of all time "We do not know of an "rrod situation" and its overblown lol

Dude. You're really going to believe that after the twisted wording Microsoft has used in the past?

Notice how he said "it was full games". What does that even confirm? He didn't answer whether or not that "full game" would be a timed demo (1 hour) or unlimited. So really, it was never going to be what you gullibles think it was going to be, because if it had any substance, they would have been able to explain how it worked and explicitly what the sharing entailed.

http://news.xbox.com/2013/0... Bullet point 4. June 6th, prior to the policy reversals. 1 person out of the 10 could play at a time, just as if you gave them a disc. It's not buy 1, get 10 free. And for you comprehension challenged, when you take Forza to a friend's house, it doesn't magically turn into a demo. It was full games.

Probably. I mean if they wanted to they could have limited the family plan with digital copies and it would have worked just fine. But for some reason with Microsoft you have to have some crazy DRM system attached to every retail copy.

Edit: I have a feeling that they wanted to make consumers feel bad for protesting against their DRM system. No idea why they would do such a thing.

this is just as awful as MS's implementation... i don't like that it'll force you to quit or purchase the game you're playing in the lender decides he/she wants to play the game. it kind of defeats the purpose if it severely limits your access.

Its simple When you let someone borrow something, you can't both use it at the same time... If you had it your way, games would sell up to fifty percent less, because one purchase would satisfy to customers simulaneously.

Now if your talking about giving a disc away permanently, of course there is never any conflict. Still only one person is using it at a time.

People are rediculous. Before Microsoft inveiled the Xbox one, sharing digital content was an impossibility. Frankly, there is no economically feasible way to facilitate such a feature without some form of DRM. Microsoft pitfall, was trying to apply the same features (and restriction) to physical media. As far as digital is concerned, Microsoft's policy was LESS restrictive. I'm not sure why people fear the return of family share, since any subsequent DRM will only affect digital downloads.

Choose 10 people. You always have access just like the Steam model. 1 of the 10 has access at a given time, not at once, just like the Steam model. When you bring Forza to a friend's house, does it turn into a demo? No. It's still the full game. It's really not hard to understand.

Question: If you have been added to one person's family list, can you be added to a different person's family list? **Never answered **

Question: If you add someone to your family list, are you automatically added to their list? ** Never answered **

Question: If you have added someone to your family list, can you then be added to someone else's family list? ** Never Answered **

Question: Assuming you can be added to someone's family list after you have added someone to your family list, do the people you have added to your list automatically get added to the person's list who added you (meaning it is all one family)? ** Never answered **

Question: Is there was some kind of mechanism for the other people on my family list to know what games were being played so they wouldn't be able to start playing a game and kick someone else off? ** Never answered **

Question: If my son (on my sharing list) was playing one of my shared games on our home console, would someone else from my list still be able to play it on a different console? ** Never answered **

Question: If you add someone to your family list, can you later remove them? If so, how often ** Never answered **

And before you say the answers are obvious, I e-mailed/tweeted Major Nelson, Xbox Support, Phil Harrison, and Phil Spencer before the reversal, and none of them had answers for those questions.

The basics aren't hard to understand, but the specifics are VITAL, and they were never answered. Without knowing them we don't know if the plan is great or almost worthless. So we never really knew one way or the other.